Isopods from Stella!

I did a trade a couple months ago with hobbyist Stella Larson, who sent me some pretty cool isopods!

Let's start off with my personal fave, Reductoniscus tuberculatus! These little dwarves are covered in little tubercles/spines, and are quite rotund and broad in morphology compared to some other conglobating spp.. 

I have mine set up in a well ventilated enclosure with a couple inches of coco fiber substrate/bark chips, topped with leaf litter. I'm keeping them humid, at around 75-80F°, and offering dog food as the supplemental diet.

Here are some pictures of the little chonkers:

Such a cool little species, and I believe they've already started breeding for me. 😄

---

Next up, I got a group of Porcellio sp. "Canary Islands, Spain". These are a small and very heavily textured species, and some may consider their many prominent tubercles "spikes". As such they are often traded under the name "Spikey Canare". They are subtly marked with some ornate patterning, and a whiteout form (named "Ivory") has been isolated, though I do not own it (yet).

I have them set up in a well ventilated enclosure with a thin layer of coconut fiber substrate, topped with bark and leaf litter. I'm keeping two thirds of the substrate humid, the rest dry. I'm feeding them dog food as the supplemental diet, and keeping them at around 75F°.

Here are some pics:

I have seen some mancae in their enclosure recently, so it seems they are doing well! A very underrated species, one that I hope takes off in the hobby a little more.

---

I've also gotten a group of Porcellio echinatus, a medium sized Porcellio that's quite similar to P.scaber, though with slightly different morphology. Namely, they are even bumpier and more heavily textured than scaber.

I've got them housed in a well ventilated enclosure with a thin layer of coconut fiber, topped with bark and leaf litter. I'm offering them dog food as the supplemental diet, keeping two thirds of the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and have them at around 75F°.

Here are some pictures:

They are breeding prolifically for me already, care seems very comparable to scaber. I'd really love to see some morphs popping up of this species in the future, they're a very nice, basic isopod species.

---

Last but not least, I've gotten a group of Venezillo parvus "Dalmatian". This is a small but fairly prolific species, and while I've heard some stocks of this morph have been poorly isolated and traded off before breeding true, this line from Stella seems to be breeding true to the "Dalmatian" morph coloration, and I haven't seen any wild types pop up in my culture at all.

I've got them housed in a moderately ventilated enclosure, with a couple inches of coco fiber substrate, topped with bark and leaf litter. They are being kept humid, and at around 75-80F°. I'm offering dog food as the supplemental diet.

Here are pics of the little darlings:

This colony has started breeding prolifically for me, and after having them for a little while, I already want the wild type and orange morphs of this species as well. 😆

Anyways, this was a phenomenal trade, huge thanks to Stella Larson! Thanks for reading this post, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉 

Isopods from Isopodcrossing

I've gotten a bunch of goodies from Kyle at Roachcrossing over the past couple months, and so I figured I'd lump all the isopods I got from him in one post. 😀 

First off, I got a nice group of Armadillo officinalis "Orange Crush". A lovely orange morph of this species, presumably from the OG no locality stock (or a locality crossed line). 

I've got them set up in a well ventilated gallon shoebox with an inch or so of coconut fiber substrate, topped with leaf litter and bark. I'm offering dog food as the supplemental diet. I have a quarter of the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and have them at around 75-80F°.

Here are some pictures of a few of them:

Hopefully they will do well for me, my normal A.officinalis have already started breeding in my care.

---

Next up, I got a group of Cubaris sp. "Rubber Ducky - 2017". These are descended directly from the original import in 2017, and are less variable in coloration than a lot of the newer, mixed stocks of this species on the market nowadays (though there is certainly still a little natural variation in coloration). 

I've got them set up in a moderately ventilated enclosure with an inch or so of coco fiber substrate, topped with bark and leaf litter. I'm keeping them humid, at around 75-80F°, and am offering dog food as the supplemental diet.

Here are some pictures of them:

I'm quite happy to have some of the OG Duckies, hopefully they'll do well in my care!

---

Now these may be one of my new favorites, Porcellio ornatus "Witch's Brew". The Dalmatian morph isolated from the "High Yellow" line, these dry hardy Spanish Porcellio are absolutely stunning, pictures simply do not do them justice. 😍 I love variable patterning and bright yellow on an isopod, and these beauties certainly fit the bill.

I have them in a well ventilated enclosure with a thin layer of coconut fiber substrate, topped with bark and leaf litter. I'm feeding dog food as the supplemental food, keeping one third of the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and they're at around 75-80F°.

Here are some pics of them:

Such a nice line, and I'm happy to report they've already produced offspring! ❤️

---

Kyle also sent another species I've been longing for, Venezillo arizonicus "Sahuarita, AZ". This species is native to the SW US, and are found in very arid, warm climates. They need warm temps to reproduce consistently in captivity, and like things dry as well.

I've got mine in a well ventilated enclosure with an inch of coco fiber substrate, topped with bark and leaf litter. I'm keeping a quarter of the setup humid, the rest dry, and at around 80-85F°. I'm offering dog food as the supplemental diet.

Here are some pictures of them:

They've already started producing offspring, they have small clutches, but if kept correctly colonies will grow at a similar rate as other members of the genus (perhaps not as explosively as V.parvus).

Lastly, Kyle also sent some Elumoides sp. "Miami", which are a bit more yellowish than the ones Alan sent me, so I've got them set up separately, we'll see if the difference is strictly environmental, or if there's something else afoot.

Anyways, that does it for this post, thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you all next time! 😉